It’s no coincidence those that championed Brexit are those that wanted a weaker Europe and weaker U.K.
That’s why the majority of tax payers were against it, the majority of educated people voted against it, the majority of working people voted against it, the majority of people alive today who voted voted against it
Bloody poor people deciding for themselves what they want. Shouldn't get a vote unless you have a degree and property. If only they'd had the sense to listen to their betters.
In other words "democracy" - people with an agenda tell their version of its benefits. Saying "the vote was invalid because the poor uneducated people were too stupid to realise they were being lied to"
But the remaining wealth of the country has successfully been extracted in the form of overpriced and not-fit-for-purpose utilities, transport companies, taxes, and so on and given to corporate interests. From their perspective it's a resounding success.
I wouldn't strictly put all of them at the feet of the EU. While what you say is true, the Conservatives were frothing to privatise whatever they could. Labour just went along with the process (and I'm no Labour supporter either).
The one I won't forgive was our water. I believe we're the only developed country to have privatised our water, with disastrous consequences.
And that one can be squarely laid at the feet of Margaret 'Fucking" Thatcher (real name).
> The one I won't forgive was our water. I believe we're the only developed country to have privatised our water, with disastrous consequences.
100% agreed
there's no market or competition at any level (even RAIL had somewhat competitive bidding for franchises)
they're just Henry VIII style granted monopolies, with the results are the same as they were 800 years ago
(well, other than the civil war bit)
> And that one can be squarely laid at the feet of Margaret 'Fucking" Thatcher (real name).
water was another EU triggered one: the EU (EEC) kept writing new water directives, and the government couldn't figure out another way to fund their implementation
A large chunk of the “classic” UK sell-offs were 1980s to early 1990s: BT (1984), British Gas (1986), British Airways (1987), and by 1991 regional electricity and water companies had been privatised.
A lot of EU single-market liberalisation in network industries ramped up later (late 1980s/1990s, and beyond). For example, telecoms EU “competition” directives begin in 1988/1990 and are amended through the 1990s.
Meanwhile, the UK government had already announced plans to sell major chunks of BT by 1982, and BT’s privatization was implemented through UK legislation. England/Wales water privatization was created by Water Act 1989.
If the government couldn't figure out a way to fund their implementation, then either the government was insufficiently-wily (in which case, they could've hired wily consultants), or it was genuinely impossible without taking money from another pot. If the latter, then selling to a for-profit corporate structure was the worst possible decision they could've made.
Don't be so sure that the next generation automatically gets less indoctrinated.
Facebook at least documented content interactions out in the open. With tiktok you don't notice what kind of content someone consumes.
There are tens of thousands of people working a full time job just to influence people in democratic countries to act/vote against their interests. Then we have hundreds of thousands more in advertisement industry with their own interests, mainly in line with goals of US companies.
There is reason for optimism because if everyone is on tiktok it becomes "uncool" again but still it is a very dangerous tool.
I'll bite on this one. I've been saying to anyone who will listen here in the states: my generation, the Boomers, needs to die out and/or get the hell out of the way. We're trashing almost everything because of a cult of hero worship.
While I used to agree with you, based on the most recent polling, Gen X and Gen Z are both farther right than Boomers are these days. So we're fucked long term too.
It’s no coincidence those that championed Brexit are those that wanted a weaker Europe and weaker U.K.
That’s why the majority of tax payers were against it, the majority of educated people voted against it, the majority of working people voted against it, the majority of people alive today who voted voted against it
Yet we still got it.